Indonesia: A Necklace of Equatorial Emeralds that Produce World Class Coffee

There are four islands throughout the Indonesian Archipelago that produce world class coffee

Coffee of Indonesia - Indonesia is often referred to as the world's largest archipelago, a name which aptly represents its 17,000 or so islands which span more than 5000 km (around 3,200 miles) eastward from Sabang in northern Sumatra to Merauke in Irian Jaya. If you superimpose a map of Indonesia over one of Europe, you will find that it stretches from Ireland to Iran; compared to the United States, it covers the area from California to Bermuda.

There are eight major islands or island groups in this enormous chain. The largest landmasses consist of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan (Borneo), Sulawesi (Celebes) and Irian Jaya (the western half of Papua New Guinea). The smaller islands fall into two main groups: the Molluccas to the northeast, and the lesser Sunda chain east of Bali. Bali is a unique island, which for a number of reasons can be put into a class of its own.

There are four islands throughout the Indonesian Archipelago that produce world class coffee. Java is where the Dutch first began production and trade in the mid 17th Century resulting in a universal name for coffee. The phrase “cup of java” is used for any varietal.

The other three islands are Sumatra, Bali and Sulawesi, or Celebes, which is the former name. Celebes Kalossi is an excellent find because of its elegance sanctified from other Indonesian coffee.

Sumatra has two major growing regions: Mandheling and Lintong. Sumatran beans are very powerful and particularly the one's from Mandheling are said, by connoisseurs, to be the world's most full bodied coffee.

Like India, Indonesia is expected to produce a lighter colored bean with a spicy flavor. This, of course, is because of the same conditions. The government of Indonesia stored the beans in “go downs” for more than a year. This resulted in less sought after flavors. 

Popularity for the unique, aged flavor dropped, although it is still produced. Aged coffee is labeled “Old Government”, “Old Brown”, or “Old Java”. Coffee loses acidity and gains body with age, depending on the manner in which it was stored. (*)